Belarus Leader Says He’s Seeking to Ease Border Crisis With EU

(Bloomberg) -- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, facing the threat of new sanctions from the European Union, said he’s seeking to de-escalate the migrant crisis on his country’s border with the bloc as violence broke out on the frontier Tuesday.

Polish forces used tear gas and water cannons to drive back a group of the refugees seeking to breach the border, officials said. There was no immediate word of injuries.

“We agreed that no one needs escalation, not the European Union and not Belarus,” Lukashenko said of his phone conversation Monday with with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, according to Belta.

Lukashenko said he proposed a way to resolve the problem of the several thousand refugees now camped out on the border in the call, but declined to provide details, saying Merkel agreed to consider the idea. He also said he plans to speak to President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to seek Russian help in the crisis.

The migrant issue has spiraled in recent weeks. Western leaders accused Lukashenko of bringing them to the border to put pressure on the EU, which has steadily stepped up pressure on his authoritarian regime since a brutal crackdown on opponents began after elections last year.

French President Emmanuel Macron Monday asked Putin in a call to use his influence over Belarus, Russia’s closest ally. The two also discussed Lukashenko’s threat last week to block Russian gas supplies to Europe, one that drew quick disavowals from Moscow. At the same time, the Kremlin said the Russian leader underlined to Macron the importance of direct dialog between the EU and Belarus to resolve the situation and accused Polish forces of using excessive force to keep the refugees from crossing the border.

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“We have a hybrid war but a gun war is hardly on the horizon,” Polish ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski on public radio on Tuesday. “I don’t believe that Lukashenko would dare to do anything more at the moment.”

EU officials said Monday that the flow of refugees from the Middle East and Afghanistan was already slowing after airlines in the region stopped accepting them for flights to Belarus. 

Monday, the bloc approved new sanctions powers that allow it to target individuals and entities, such as airlines and travel agencies, that are involved in trying to facilitate illegal crossing of migrants into the EU. Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said late Monday that the specific targets of the new sanctions package will be finalized in the coming days. 

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